Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Thursday 30th August edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

Hi to podcast partner Sascha Pallenberg who tweeted today about the Mercedes EQC – “6 more days until the launch. I can’t wait! #Mercedes #SwitchToEQ #eMobility #EV #Daimler”

It features Michael Keltz who you may have seen in the Fully Charged video with Jonny Smith, and racing driver Susie Wolf.

MERCEDES-BENZ EQ C TEASES ITS ‘MYSTIC REAR’

The Mercedes EQC is slowly revealing itself, like putting a puzzle together and starting to get an idea of the final picture. I suspect, by the way, Mercedes will do one of these a day because they a big ‘ol tease.

So on Monday we got the front of the car, in a video called Mystic Detail. And then next, for any fans of rear ends, they’ve released a video called Mystic Rear.

Again this video is 14 seconds long and shows a rear end of the car with a single red light extending from the left to right side, in one long single line which runs under the rear window. You can also see the Mercedes badge lit up.

You can download the video from the media centre on the press area of the Mercedes Canada website and when you do, the filename is EQC.

The third video is called, you guessed it by now, Mystic Interior. This is my favourite video so far. The instrument cluster is one long ultra widescreen dash, which begins behind the steering wheel and extends along the dash to the centre console and media centre. it’s one long, wide giant screen.

“In front of the driver, there are two circular digital gauges, the one on the right showing “Power.” Above the centre stack, the infotainment screen shows a “Comfort” setting on the left, and “Mercedes me & Apps” on the right. In the top left corner, next to the home button, we see the name “Anna,” suggesting the car can automatically set preferences based on the individual driver.” says Autoblog.

Mercedes-Benz EQC specs…

70 kWh battery

up to 310 miles (500 km) of range measured on NEDC

AWD, 300kW / 402bhp of power

The car will be launched next week on September 4th at the official event in Stockholm, before heading to the Paris Motor Show.

Mercedes will launch a total of ten electric cars before 2025, each of which expected to use the EQ prefix featured on the EQC.

GM’S ELECTRIC DREAM IN CHINA SUDDENLY LOOKS UNDERPOWERED

“General Motors plans to ramp up electric-vehicle production in China were set back after the auto maker determined the Chinese-made batteries it intended to use failed to meet its own performance and safety standards during testing.” says Trefor Jones for WSJ.com: “GM was set to enter production next month on its plug-in hybrid Buick Velite 6, a local variant of the Volt, with a pure-electric version due to follow early next year. That launch schedule has now been postponed, with internal tests showing the battery, supplied by A123 Systems, didn’t meet GM’s quality standards”.

You can be sure if this was Tesla having quality issues the world would stop turning for some media commentators, I wonder if their reaction to GM will be a fierce. I’m betting not.

“GM originally planned to use batteries from South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. But in 2016, China mandated that auto makers use batteries from a list of approved suppliers, all of which are Chinese. China-owned Volvo Car Group, however, is an exception: It is allowed to use batteries using LG Chem-licensed technology in its locally built cars.” WSJ.com

The Nissan LEAF seems to be the vehicle of choice for explorers and those doing cross-continent challenges. Three months ago Marek Kaminski left Poland in the new 40kWh Nissan LEAF, with eight countries and two continents covered by electric power.

YouTube: “Renowned Polish explorer Marek Kaminski has completed his “No Trace Expedition,” a transcontinental journey from Poland to Japan in a new Nissan LEAF. After covering a remarkable 16,000 kilometers, Kaminski has arrived in Japan. Kaminski faced challenges throughout his expedition, but he said the Nissan LEAF performed well and proved it isn’t just a city car – it can be a reliable partner on long trips.”

He said: “”For me, this journey is not just about reaching my destination – it is also about making a simple, brilliant change to be more sustainable. Whether in the wilds of Russia, on remote Mongolian dirt tracks or in the bustling streets of Tokyo, the LEAF has been a reliable partner throughout. The car and features such as ProPILOT were impressively capable in tough driving conditions, and even in remote areas with little infrastructure, we kept the LEAF charged and on the move. The LEAF gave me the opportunity to stick to my pledge and travel without a trace, so I hope that this is a step forward on the journey towards sustainable mobility.”

That’s all a bit corporate at times but if he’s been given a car, or even support from Nissan, he’s clearly in debt to them. I love these kind of challenges, if he can do that, it shows you can easily do any journey in one.

An electric Ford SUV has been spotted on the roads of Michigan. It’s a 300 mile SUV on the cards for 2020. Despite the fake tail pipes and even a sticker saying ‘Diesel Fuel Only’ it’s clearly an EV.

Carwale say: “Our spy sources suggest that to throw people off, Ford has covered up the EV charge point and fitted a sooty looking exhaust pipe on the body of an Escape. However, this test car is significantly larger than the current Escape and seems to even have a proper third row. We even suspect that the whole Mach 1 may just be a project codename and that when the crossover is actually launched in 2020, it will be called something else altogether. Ford is spending big money on retooling its Dearborn facility for the production of electric vehicles and this Mach1 (or whatever it is called) will be the first car to roll off the assembly lines.”

However in contrary to what Carwale say, others seem to think their EVs will be made at a plant in Mexico. Ford’s Team Edison is working on their electrification plans and aren’t so much a separate company, but are said to be operating with more autonomy than other teams, in order to be more agile and behave like startups such as Tesla.

“The US government wants to make electric cars noisy on a mandatory basis. After three years, a government body has yet to answer the question of whether police cars could be made exempt from this rule.” reports The Verge “In order to prevent road injuries, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a rule requiring all electric vehicles, starting in 2020, to emit a noise when travelling at speeds below 19 miles per hour (roughly 30 kilometers per hour). Three years ago, in 2015, Ford Motor Co. asked the NHTSA for permission to equip police cars with a noise switch to flip off and on, The Verge discovered. Apparently, the inquiry was never addressed.”

HYDROGEN STATIONS SHUT DOWN

The largest supplier of hydrogen fuel to cars in Norway, Hyop, seems to have to shut down the operation of its five hydrogen stations, the company announced in a press release. The hydrogen stations are due to close on September 1.

“Only Uno-X, with its two stations, offers hydrogen fuel to individuals in Norway. Uno-X announces on its website that they will open a new station during the year, and another two in 2019.”

“You’ve gotta love Pebble Beach. The concept cars companies’ debut in the beautiful Monterey, California during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance are always jaw dropping.” reports BMW Blog: “Designed to pay homage to the original Silver Arrow, a highly-successful Mercedes-Benz W125 racer from 1937, the EQ Silver Arrow is an all-electric, single-seat beauty. Obviously, we’re BMW enthusiasts here but, above all, we’re car enthusiasts and this new EQ Silver Arrow is flat-out awesome. It has a body structure made entirely from carbon fiber, Alubeam Silver paint that makes it look like it’s painted with liquid metal, a single-seat driving position and quite possibly the coolest wheels I’ve seen on any car, concept or otherwise, in a very long time.”

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